New Feature- Makeup Maven

I will be doing a new weekly feature.  Hopefully I can get people to submit their stories to me (you know there are only three of us guys).  If you want to be featured as the weekly Makeup Maven please submit 1 to 3 photos of yourself with the makeup look of your choice.  Also copy and paste the following questions along with your answers:

Tell me about your featured look.

What is your holy grail product?

What is your favorite product line?

What is your favorite thing about makeup?

Tell me about your love of makeup and when it started?

Where did you learn your technique?

What advice do you have for those who want to try out a different look but are afraid?

Submit your feature to mixdupmakeup@gmail.com and put Makeup Maven in the subject line.

Mixdup

In the Beginning There Was Acne

So, I am progressing really well on my natural hair journey and trying to improve the health of my hair, which is growing like a week and is so healthy and soft. I heard that taking Biotin supplements aids in hair growth, so I decided to start taking the pills. I have been taking them for about three weeks now, but cannot tell if they are working or if my hair simply is growing fast on it's own. I have noticed that I have been having breakouts on my cheeks. Normally I get a bump or two before I start each month, but I have been having them on my cheeks as well. I was reading up on the side effects and benefits of biotin. Biotin is said to promote healthy hair and improve:
Brittle Nails
Acne
Diabetes
Eczema
Hair Loss
Mild Depression

The formula I have says on the bottle "For Healthy Skin, Nails, and Hair." My face has started to clear up, so I will continue taking them. I figure if I take them with my multi-vitamin, they can only do good.

Mixdup


Update as of February 13, 2012

So I stopped taking the Biotin, and my face has finally started clearing up. But that is not before some trial and error. About three weeks ago, I bought Clean & Clear Persa 10 gel. I used it once at night and once in the morning underneath my moisturizer. I did this for three days. Then one morning I woke up with red itchym burning face.  It looked like a hear rash all over my cheeks and chin.  So I knew immediately, that I needed to discontinue using it.  After a week of dry and irritated skin, my face started to clear up.  I have gone back to washing my face with Dove soap for now, and moisturizing with Cocoa Butter which always fades blemish scars.  I'm just going to keep it simple and shampoo my makeup brushes really well. 

Mixdup

Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care: Things That Suck and Rock About Natural Hair

Curly Nikki Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care: Things That Suck and Rock About Natural Hair: by Taneica of ShatterProofGlassDolls Ok, before y’all attempt to tie me up with silk scarves, draw your afro picks and scalp me, hear me o...

Candy Skull Makeup

This Halloween I didn't want to be my normal sexy costumed self. I actually wanted to look like I put forth effort into my costume and didn't just grab a playboy version of a costume. I decided this year I would put my skills to good use and be a Mexican Candy Skull.

It is a rare occasion where I get to be daring and clever with my makeup. I loved how I got to play with different elements for my makeup application. Here's a step-by-step:
I painted my whole face white with Halloween paint. I drew lines on my lip with black Halloween paint, followed by a liquid eyeliner pencil. I outlined my nose, chin, eyes, cheeks and forehead in a pencil and colored in my nose with paint. I used a dark purple pigment on my eyes and chin followed by a lighter more iridescent color on my eyes, nose, chin, and forehead. I then used clear Aurora Borealis sequins and adhered them around my eyes with eyelash glue and also to my cheeks, chin, and a flat back rhinestone to my forehead. I loved it. I even made a purple feather black birdcage veil to go in my hair. I even won an Halloween contest over those sexy vixens. Take that "Mrs. Officer" and "Sexy Pirate".

Mixdup

Post Big Chop

I big chopped on August 9 down to a one and half inch teeny weeny Afro, also known as TWA. In that time frame, my hair has shown about a 2 and a half in growth. Although I loved how I felt post chop, I wasn't in love with my hair. some of my ends were still straight from the cut, it wasn't long enough to do anything other than a wash and go, and I didn't know what products to use. I have learned a lot in this time frame about how to care for my hair, what products to use, and different styles to try. For the first three months I did a wash and go most days. I would strictly co-wash with a good conditioner, and add a leave in conditioner, and coconut oil and go about my day. On November 11, my husband surprised me with a trip to the salon to get my hair colored. It is now a light reddish brown color. I love it, i felt my hair needed some pizazz. About a week prior to getting my color, my hair had finally gotten long enough to wear in a style other than my TWA. I could wear a headband, and I tried finger coils for the first time. Now it's long enough for a two strand twist. I have been wearing these as my protective styles. I wash once a week and deep condition (dc), then I moisturize and style. I have learned what works good for my hair. I learned that for the most part, if I can readily identify all ingredients, it is a good product. I purchased a shampoo recently by Tropic Isle Living with Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Pimento Oil, Aloe Vera, Lavender, Rosemary Extract, Shea Butter, Organic Saponified Oils of Coconut, Olive, Jojoba, Vegetable Gum, Glycerin Extract. It makes my hair feel really soft and hydrated. I also learned that most shampoos have sulfates in them and are not good for keeping natural hair moisturized. I also discovered that after switching conditioners my hair felt really dry, and that was because of certain alcohols in it. I learned that I should stay away from conditioners with alcohols that start with a P in them. Those are the drying alcohols, and the other alcohols are better and more natural, so they are okay. I made my own whipped Shea butter. I bought a one pound tub of raw Shea butter, and added Castor oil, and ISOKE oils by Beautiful Brown Baby Doll. I plan on buying more of her products. So this is my current hair care regimen. We'll see what I am by my birthday in March. I may get yarn braids before the winter is over, but only if I can learn to do them myself.

Mixdup

Matte's Where It's At!

Trending this fall is the matte finish for nails. There are many colors that come in a matte finish. Among favorites are O.P.I. However, I have a ton of nail polishes and was not sure if I would like the matte finish, but if I ended up loving it, I wasn't going to buy every color in matte finish. SO, Sephora has a matte top coat that works on top of every color. I think it looks really nice on darker colors and the glitter colors. It ends up looking like satin paint. I have tried it on dark blue, dark purple, and deep red. All look great. Also, to make the nails POP, you can try added designs on top with regular nail polish. I had blue matte nails, and added clear polka dots.
(picture courtesy of shestayfabulous.com)

On another note, I really like the O.P.I. website. The site is interactive and has a Try On This Color tab. you can change nail lengths, skin shade, and try on any shade. Also, Nicki Minaj has a line of colors out. So step out of your nail box this season.

Mixdup

Many Apologies

I owe everyone a big apology. I have not been a consistent blogger, and we know all blogs are more successful when shown consistency. I have decided to go a different direction. I am no longer going to solely blog about makeup. I am going to blog about all of the things I enjoy doing. I enjoy cooking and trying out different recipes, I love makeup, and making jewelry. I love art of all kinds and crafts and pretty much anything that is a DIY project. I love my hair and love sharing my personal hair experience. So from now on, I will have whatever interests me that day. I do, however, promise consistency.

Mixdup

The Traveling Makeup Counter

I just recently went on a trip with my husband for our anniversary. I wanted badly to pack everything my heart desired, but I'm trying this whole "pack light" thing. I find that it is also difficult to pack makeup, because I want to pack all my makeup. So here are just a few tips to pack light:

1. Look through your makeup and pick out the products that you notice you use on a daily basis. These are  
    your beauty staples. My staples include eye and face primer, my brush roll, black mascara, my Sephora liquid eyeliner, peach gloss, brown eyeshadow for my eyebrows, a brow highlight color (a pearlescent colored eyeshadow), and a neutral palette with bronzes, and golds.

2. Look at the outfits you are taking. Do you have mostly casual clothes? Some dressier nighttime outfits? Pack a set a day makeup and evening makeup. Most people use darker more dramatic colors for the evening and stay more neutral in the day. If this is you, then pack a couple of lipsticks that you would wear in the evening, perhaps your bolder colors. Also if you like the darker/ smoky eyes in the evening, add a couple of those colors to your makeup kit.

3. If you will be around water, make sure you pack your makeup with SPF and some waterproof eyeliner and mascara.

4. Finally, don't forget your cleanser and moisturizer. If you will be away from home in a different climate make sure you pack a couple of different moisturizers. In colder climates, you will want a heavier moisturizer and a lighter moisturizer with SPF for the warmer/sunnier climates.

Mixdup

Confessions of A Makeupolic

It's been a long time, but I promise I will get back to blogging on a regular basis. The purpose of my post today is simply to vent. There are a lot of women like myself who LOVE makeup as much as I do, maybe even more than I do. Some of these women do really well on their own makeup and others do well doing others makeup. However, just because you own a lot of makeup and love doing your own makeup, does not, I repeat, DOES NOT....make you a makeup artist. There are certain techniques that you may use on yourself that work for you (or don't work, but you are still satisfied with how you look everyday). Just because these techniques work for you and your face structure, does not mean you can use this same technique on others. It is even worse, doing someone's makeup who does not usually wear any. There is such a thing as subtle beauty. People have to work themselves up to bright colors and dramatic applications (please refer to my Electric Eel post). If I have said it once, I have said it a million billion trillion times before, it does not matter where you buy your makeup, whether its name brand, or no brand, but the right set of brushes is essential for a flawless makeup application. If you are still using the sponge tip applicator that came with your makeup.......throw them out. Buy a set of starter brushes, until you get some really nice brushes. Just buy brushes and stop using a sponge to apply makeup. Even if you do others makeup and you want something hygienic and disposable, use disposable lip stick and lip gloss applicators and mascara brushes, but buy brushes, and clean them on a regular basis using baby shampoo and let them air dry. I witnessed someone disrespect someones face recently in the disguise of a favor. I could tell the one on the receiving end of that sponge tip applicator was not happy. I had to have a side note with them and tell them, while they are still beautiful, don't make the mistake of letting anyone do their makeup. Sometimes, when you look at someones makeup, you are actually looking at a canvas. Just as a true artist, this canvas shows what type of artist and skill this person has. Though art is open for interpretation, there are still basic rules true artists follow. Please know where your skill lies, and if you are not working to improve that skill, leave the makeovers to the professionals.

Mixdup

Makeover Maven: Natural Look

Today I present my first makeover. I did the makeover on a friend of mine, thank you Trakina! She does not wear much makeup, so I went for a more natural look for her. For this makeover I used all MAC products unless otherwise indicated. Trakina started off with no makeup, per my request. I primed her face with a mist of MAC's Fix+ Spray.

 I then dusted her face with Medium Deep Mineralize Skinfinish Powder using my 187 Duo Fibre Brush. I then used a small amount of Matte Creme` along her nose, under her eyes, and above her browline.

I then used Urban Decay Primer Potion all over her lid.

I sprayed my 242 Shader Brush with the Fix+ Spray and started the eyes by dipping the brush in Tan Pigment and using it on the bottom half of the eyelid. I then used my 224 Tapered Blending Brush and swirled it in Mulch eyeshadow and used it in the crease up to the brow. I used a generic fluff eyeshadow brush and dusted it in Expensive pink on the outer half of the lower lid. I used the lightest color in my LORAC Little Black Palette (upper left corner) with a 228 Mini Shader Brush as a highlight (right below the eye brow). I filled in her eyebrows with a 263 Angle Brush and Brun eyeshadow, and brushed them with an eyebrow brush. I used Sephora liquid eyeliner in Black. I finished her look with her own CoverGirl Lashblast Mascara in the yellow tube.

On Trakina's cheeks I used Stark Naked beauty powder brush (discontinued limited edition) with a fluffy blush brush.

Her lips were done in Lychee Luxe Lipglass with Now In Season LipGelee in the pout.

Mixdup